Life, Day by Day

Is there such a thing as a perfect sound?  That is a question Prof. Dr. Fritz Sennheiser and his team of engineers sought to answer when he founded  Labor W or “Laboratorium Wennebostel” in 1945.  Now known as SENNHEISER , a private German company specializing in audio electronics, the company's Asia Regional Office in Singapore was formed in 1992 to oversee the entire Asian market and coordinate activities with distributors in Korea, Thailand, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nepal, Philippines , Brunei, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Cambodia and the islands of Maldives and Mauritius.   And now, they are in Metro Bacolod, the first time they have opened a store outside Manila.

My grandmother and her sisters had it, my mother has it and now, I have it .   "IT" is Osteoarthritis...a common joint degenerative disease that has been handed down to the women and to a lesser extent, also to the men from my mother's side of the family.   It's not as if I have not been forewarned.  I've had occasional knee aches and pains for the last 25 years which had not really gotten worse until maybe 5 years ago, but even then, the pain would be bearable and go away in a day or two.  Then a month ago I attended this seminar in MetroManila where from the airport I got caught in traffic for almost four hours.  Added to that, I was sitting for long hours during the next three days.  Limited mobility, overweight, no exercise and a history of crackling knees is a recipe for disaster...well, okay so I am exaggerating a bit, but hey, I am just a few more years short of retirement age and painful joints run in the family.   I knew it wa...

If you are looking for a different kind of dining experience, then Blackbeard's Seafood Island is the place for you. The restaurant which recently opened at The District, Ayala North Point in Talisay City is known for it's "boodle style" of serving food.  For those unfamiliar with this style of eating, Boodle originated from the military (Boodle Fight) where "long tables are prepared and food are on top of the banana leaves. Viands and rice ready to eat using your bare hands, jugs of water are prepared on the side to wash hands before the “eating combat”. With the signal to start the boodle fight, everyone aims for his/her position".  Of course, at Blackbeard's Seafood Island, the boodle which was the brainchild of Chef Chang Magdaluyo , part-owner and resident chef is done with a lot more finesse and style.  Take a look at the different boodle feasts in their menu list:

I know that Philippine Airlines (PAL) may not be among the best airline in the world nor ranked as one of the safest but, so what?  It will always be my home in the sky when flying around the country and it's neighboring nations.  I have always had a fear of flying but have always felt safe and secure when flying with PAL. Also, I have never had a negative experience with them except maybe for occasional delays. Even when I got stranded in Cebu during Typhoon Frank in 2008, my only complaint was the lack of information.  The ground staff did the best they could amidst all the chaos, unlike the other airlines whose staff would disappear in times like this. This is why I always fly PAL except for the very rare occasions when my tickets were purchased for me and even then, I would always request for PAL, and with good reason.

I love Japanese food and so, I was looking forward with great anticipation to the grand opening of the first ever SumoSam restaurant in Negros Occidental.  This is their 28th store in the country and is located at the The District North Point in Talisay City.  "This is clearly another milestone for us", Marvin Agustin , actor turned entrepreneur and chef said, referring to the fast pace of the chain's growth in recent years.  SumoSam was started 8 years ago by Marvin together with two friends, Raymund Magdaluyo and Ricky Laudico.   According to him there is always something new in their menu every 6 months and that they have roving Chefs from their head office to ensure the consistency and quality of their food in all their stores. All their kitchen have stations manned by “specialists”, such as as the sushi, teppan and the ramen stations.  It was also mentioned that they would source locally whatever fresh produce they need, as long as it is availabl...

I spent 6 nights in Manila from June 17 to 22, 2013 to attend a Trainors' Training for the Zuellig Family Foundation's Health Leadership and Governance Program.  I was taking the 3:55 PM PAL flight from Bacolod, only it was 20 minutes delayed, so that we departed at 4:30 PM instead.  There was some delay in landing and we finally got out of the NAIA terminal 2 just a few minutes before 6 PM.  We walked to the taxi stand at the other end of the terminal but there were no taxis as it was raining, not heavily but not stopping either.  We finally got one at about 6:40 PM, and the driver asked if we can take the skyway, as traffic was terrible in EDSA and Magallanes.  To end a long story...we got to our destination in Makati Avenue which is a short distance of approximately 10-12 kms from the airport more than 3 hours later!   I think I kept yawning not so much from low sugar (hunger) but from lack of oxygen (CO2 saturated enclosed space).

June 6, 2013 was a pretty busy day since it was the first day of Prep school for my little girl.  My mom who does volunteer work as the parochial pre-school administrator was also busy getting ready to come along with us.   It was only after I brought them to school and leaving for work that she casually said, "today is Papa's birthday".   "Papa" was my grandfather, Lolo Bitong and it was his 109th birth anniversary.